Digital Commons Network^™

Nonan Gaitprint: An Imu Gait Database Of Healthy Young Adults, Tyler M. Wiles, Madhur Mangalam, Joel H. Sommerfeld, Seung Kyeom Kim, Kolby J. Brink, Anaëlle Charles, Alli Grunkemeyer, Marilena Kalaitzi Manifrenti, Spyridon Mastorakis, Nicholas Stergiou, Aaron Likens

Journal Articles

An ongoing thrust of research focused on human gait pertains to identifying individuals based on gait patterns. However, no existing gait database supports modeling efforts to assess gait patterns unique to individuals. Hence, we introduce the Nonlinear Analysis Core (NONAN) GaitPrint database containing whole body kinematics and foot placement during self-paced overground walking on a 200-meter looping indoor track. Noraxon Ultium MotionTM inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors sampled the motion of 35 healthy young adults (19–35 years old; 18 men and 17 women; mean ± 1 s.d. age: 24.6 ± 2.7 years; height: 1.73 ± 0.78 m; body mass: …

Quantifying Non-Gaussian Intermittent Fluctuations In Physiology: Multiscale Probability Density Function Analysis Using The Savitzky-Golay Detrending, Madhur Mangalam, Damian G. Kelty-Stephen, Eiichi Watanabe, Ken Kiyono

Journal Articles

When measuring physiological data, the central limit theorem typically implies a consistent variance, resulting in data that closely follow a Gaussian distribution. However, physiological measurements often deviate from this expectation, increasing variance due to nonlinear correlations across various scales. The challenge lies in testing these tails, which comprise only rare and extreme values. We introduce multiscale probability density function (PDF) analysis, a method that estimates this non-Gaussianity parameter for physiological fluctuations in each of multiple timescales. We gain valuable insights into the observed distributions with heavier tails and nonlinear correlations by exploring the relationship between non-Gaussianity and logarithmic scale. To …

Multifractality In Stride-To-Stride Variations Reveals That Walking Involves More Movement Tuning And Adjusting Than Running, Taylor J. Wilson, Madhur Mangalam, Nicholas Stergiou, Aaron Likens

Journal Articles

Introduction: The seemingly periodic human gait exhibits stride-to-stride variations as it adapts to the changing task constraints. The optimal movement variability hypothesis (OMVH) states that healthy stride-to-stride variations exhibit “fractality”—a specific temporal structure in consecutive strides that are ordered, stable but also variable, and adaptable. Previous research has primarily focused on a single fractality measure, “monofractality.” However, this measure can vary across time; strideto-stride variations can show “multifractality.” Greater multifractality in stride-tostride variations would highlight the ability to tune and adjust movements more.

Methods: We investigated monofractality and multifractality in a cohort of eight healthy adults during self-paced walking and …

Temporal Organization Of Stride-To-Stride Variations Contradicts Predictive Models For Sensorimotor Control Of Footfalls During Walking, Madhur Mangalam, Damian G. Kelty-Stephen, Joel H. Sommerfeld, Nicholas Stergiou, Aaron Likens

Journal Articles

Walking exhibits stride-to-stride variations. Given ongoing perturbations, these variations critically support continuous adaptations between the goal-directed organism and its surroundings. Here, we report that stride-to-stride variations during self-paced overground walking show cascade-like intermittency—stride intervals become uneven because stride intervals of different sizes interact and do not simply balance each other. Moreover, even when synchronizing footfalls with visual cues with variable timing of presentation, asynchrony in the timings of the cue and footfall shows cascade-like intermittency. This evidence conflicts with theories about the sensorimotor control of walking, according to which internal predictive models correct asynchrony in the timings of the cue …

Ergodic Characterization Of Nonergodic Anomalous Diffusion Processes, Madhur Mangalam, Ralf Metzler, Damian G. Kelty-Stephen

Journal Articles

Anomalous diffusion in various complex systems abounds in nature and spans multiple space and time scales. Canonical characterization techniques that rely upon mean squared displacement break down for nonergodic processes, making it challenging to characterize anomalous diffusion from an individual time-series measurement. Nonergodicity reigns when the time-averaged mean square displacement differs from the ensemble-averaged mean squared displacement even in the limit of long measurement series. In these cases, the typical theoretical results for ensemble averages cannot be used to understand and interpret data acquired from time averages. The difficulty then lies in obtaining statistical descriptors of the measured diffusion process …

Long-Term Use Of An Ankle-Foot Orthosis Intervention In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease Using The Integrated Promoting Action On Research Implementation In Health Services (I-Parihs) Framework, Ayisha Bashir, Danae Dinkel, Iraklis Pipinos, Paul Estabrooks, Jason Johanning, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Background

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a cardiovascular disease that limits patients' walking ability. Persistent ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) use may increase the distance patients can walk as well as physical activity.

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to determine the implementation and patients' perspectives related to the use or disuse of the AFO intervention six months post-intervention. This study was guided by a semi-structured interview and survey based on the integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (i-PARIHS) constructs.

Design

A convergent mixed methods design was used to evaluate participants' perceptions six months following a three-month AFO …

Joint Angle Variability Is Altered In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease After Six Months Of Exercise Intervention, Farah Fallahtafti, Zahra Salamifar, Mahdi Hassan, Hafizur Rahman, Iraklis Pipinos, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Supervised exercise therapy (SET) is a conservative non-operative treatment strategy for improving walking performance in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Gait variability is altered in patients with PAD, but the effect of SET on gait variability is unknown. Forty-three claudicating patients with PAD underwent gait analysis before and immediately after a 6-month SET program. Nonlinear gait variability was assessed using sample entropy, and the largest Lyapunov exponent of the ankle, knee, and hip joint angle time series. Linear mean and variability of the range of motion time series for these three joint angles were also calculated. Two-factor repeated measure …

Machine Learning-Based Peripheral Artery Disease Identification Using Laboratory-Based Gait Data, Ali Al-Ramini, Mahdi Hassan, Farah Fallahtafti, Mohammad Ali Takallou, Hafizur Rahman, Basheer Qolomany, Iraklis Pipinos, Fadi Alsaleem, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) manifests from atherosclerosis, which limits blood flow to the legs and causes changes in muscle structure and function, and in gait performance. PAD is underdiagnosed, which delays treatment and worsens clinical outcomes. To overcome this challenge, the purpose of this study is to develop machine learning (ML) models that distinguish individuals with and without PAD. This is the first step to using ML to identify those with PAD risk early. We built ML models based on previously acquired overground walking biomechanics data from patients with PAD and healthy controls. Gait signatures were characterized using ankle, knee, …

Patient Compliance With Wearing Lower Limb Assistive Devices: A Scoping Review, Ayisha Bashir, Danae Dinkel, Iraklis Pipinos, Jason Johanning, Sara Myers

Journal Articles

Objective

The aim of this scoping review was to identify information on compliance with wearing orthoses and other supportive devices, to discuss the barriers to adherence, and to suggest strategies for improvement based on these findings.

Methods

Online databases of PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for articles about patients’ compliance with regard to lower limb assistive devices. In addition, a methodological quality control process was conducted. Studies were included if in the English language and related to compliance and adherence to the lower limb assistive device. Exclusion was based on first reading the abstract …

Peripheral Artery Disease Affects The Function Of The Legs Of Claudicating Patients In A Diffuse Manner Irrespective Of The Segment Of The Arterial Tree Primarily Involved, Todd Leutzinger, Panagiotis Koutakis, Matthew A. Fuglestad, Hafizur Rahman, Holly Despiegelaere, Mahdi Hassan, Molly Schieber, Jason Johanning, Nick Stergiou, G. Matthew Longo, George P. Casale, Sara A. Myers, Iraklis Pipinos

Journal Articles

Different levels of arterial occlusive disease (aortoiliac, femoropopliteal, multi-level disease) can produce claudication symptoms in different leg muscle groups (buttocks, thighs, calves) in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). We tested the hypothesis that different locations of occlusive disease uniquely affect the muscles of PAD legs and produce distinctive patterns in the way claudicating patients walk. Ninety-seven PAD patients and 35 healthy controls were recruited. PAD patients were categorized to aortoiliac, femoropopliteal and multi-level disease groups using computerized tomographic angiography. Subjects performed walking trials both pain-free and during claudication pain and joint kinematics, kinetics, and spatiotemporal parameters were calculated to …

Midlands Voices: We Need To Do More To Support Expecting Mothers During And After Pregnancy, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Rural Childcare Professionals Advisory Board Focused On Mental And Physical Wellbeing, Danae Dinkel, John Rech, Natalie Hanna, Denita Julius, Jennifer Bauman, Tonya Hood-Hytrek, Matthew Bice

Journal Articles

Background. Childcare providers have high rates of stress and obesity, which can have an impact on the care they provide for children. Limited research has described strategies for including childcare providers in the development of wellbeing initiatives, especially in rural areas.
Objective. To describe the creation and acceptability of a rural childcare advisory board focused on childcare providers’ wellbeing as well as the acceptability of a wellbeing summit implemented by the board.
Methods. A collaborative model guided the actions of the advisory board. Acceptability of the board and the summit were assessed via surveys.
Results. Key factors contributing to the …

Assessing Wear Time And Perceptions Of Wearing An Ankle Foot Orthosis In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease, Danae Dinkel, Mahdi Hassan, Holly Despiegelaere, Jason Johanning, Iraklis Pipinos, Sara Myers

Journal Articles

Background

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a cardiovascular disease that affects walking ability. An ankle foot orthosis (AFO) may improve walking distances in those with PAD. Little research has explored if those with PAD wear a prescribed AFO and their perceptions of wearing the device.

Objective

To assess wear time of an AFO and explore perceptions of wearing the device in patients with PAD.

Design

Convergent mixed methods.

Setting

The study was conducted through a tertiary care medical center, and the research participants used the device in the community.

Participants

Thirty-six patients, all older adult males, were enrolled in this …

Assessing Wear Time And Perceptions Of Wearing An Ankle Foot Orthosis In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease, Danae Dinkel, Mahdi Hassan, John Rech, Holly Despiegelaere, Jason Johanning, Iraklis Pipinos, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Background

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a cardiovascular disease that affects walking ability. An ankle foot orthosis (AFO) may improve walking distances in those with PAD. Little research has explored if those with PAD wear a prescribed AFO and their perceptions of wearing the device.

Objective

To assess wear time of an AFO and explore perceptions of wearing the device in patients with PAD.

Design

Convergent mixed methods.

Setting

The study was conducted through a tertiary care medical center, and the research participants used the device in the community.

Participants

Thirty-six patients, all older adult males, were enrolled in this …

Qualitative Analysis Of Colorectal Cancer Screening In Rural Nebraska, Kendra L. Ratnapradipa, Krishtee Napit, Jordan Ranta, Lady Beverly Luma, Danae Dinkel, Tamara Robinson, Laura Schabloske, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway

Journal Articles

Compared to urban residents, rural populations are less likely to engage in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. As part of a statewide cancer needs assessment, we aimed to elicit rural perspectives about CRC screening and resources. We conducted three focus groups with rural Nebraska cancer survivors and caregivers (N = 20) in Spring 2021 using a collective case study design. Participant awareness of and knowledge about CRC screening methods varied across focus groups; overall, 95% of participants had heard of colonoscopy. Participants were less familiar with fecal tests and had confusion about them. Colonoscopy was associated with negative perceptions regarding …

Qualitative Analysis Of Cancer Care Experiences Among Rural Cancer Survivors And Caregivers, Kendra L. Ratnapradipa, Jordan Ranta, Krishtee Napit, Lady Beverly Luma, Tamara Robinson, Danae Dinkel, Laura Schabloske, Shinobu Watanabe-Galloway

Journal Articles

Purpose

Rural (vs urban) patients experience poorer cancer outcomes and are less likely to be engaged in cancer prevention, such as screening. As part of a community needs assessment, we explored rural cancer survivors’ and caregivers’ experiences, perceptions, and attitudes toward cancer care services.

Methods

We conducted 3 focus groups (N = 20) in Spring 2021 in rural Nebraska.

Findings

Three patterns of cancer diagnosis were regular care/screening without noticeable symptoms, treatment for symptoms not initially identified as cancer related, and symptom self-identification. Most participants, regardless of how diagnosis was made, had positive experiences with timely referral for testing (imaging …

Metabolically Efficient Walking Assistance Using Optimized Timed Forces At The Waist, Prokopios Antonellis, Arash Mohammadzadeh Gonabadi, Sara Myers, Iraklis Pipinos, Philippe Malcolm

Journal Articles

The metabolic rate of walking can be reduced by applying a constant forward force at the center of mass. It has been shown that the metabolically optimal constant force magnitude minimizes propulsion ground reaction force at the expense of increased braking. This led to the hypothesis that selectively assisting propulsion could lead to greater benefits. We used a robotic waist tether to evaluate the effects of forward forces with different timings and magnitudes. Here, we show that it is possible to reduce the metabolic rate of healthy participants by 48% with a greater efficiency ratio of metabolic cost reduction per …

Muscle Forces And Power Are Significantly Reduced During Walking In Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease, Hafizur Rahman, Cody Anderson, Iraklis Pipinos, Jason Johanning, George P. Casale, Jianghu Dong, Holly Despiegelaere, Mahdi Hassan, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) have significantly reduced lower extremity muscle strength compared with healthy individuals as measured during isolated, single plane joint motion by isometric and isokinetic strength dynamometers. Alterations to the force contribution of muscles during walking caused by PAD are not well understood. Therefore, this study used simulations with PAD biomechanics data to understand lower extremity muscle functions in patients with PAD during walking and to compare that with healthy older individuals. A total of 12 patients with PAD and 10 age-matched healthy older controls walked across a 10-meter pathway with reflective markers on their …

How Capuchin Monkeys Use Their Semi-Prehensile Tails, Madhur Mangalam, Callum F. Ross, Patricia Izar, Elisabetta Visalberghi, Dorothy M. Fragaszy

Journal Articles

Among primates, prehensile/semi-prehensile tails have evolved independently in the families Atelidae and Cebidae of the infraorder Platyrrhini (Neotropical monkeys). They facilitate maintaining stability during locomotion on thin, flexible branches and while reaching for food on challenging substrates. How a prehensile/semi-prehensile tail is coordinated with the hind limbs to facilitate controlled, flexible adoption of postures remains unknown. In an experimental set-up in the wild, we induced capuchin monkeys to adopt a tail-assisted, head-down tripodal posture to reach for food, documenting from slow-motion video recordings (120 fps) both qualitative changes in the monkeys’ positional behaviour – the relative orientation of their limbs …

A Kinematic And Emg Dataset Of Online Adjustment Of Reach-To-Grasp Movements To Visual Perturbations, Mariusz P. Furmanek, Madhur Mangalam, Matthew Yarossi, Kyle Lockwood, Eugene Tunik

Journal Articles

Control of reach-to-grasp movements for deft and robust interactions with objects requires rapid sensorimotor updating that enables online adjustments to changing external goals (e.g., perturbations or instability of objects we interact with). Rarely do we appreciate the remarkable coordination in reach-to-grasp, until control becomes impaired by neurological injuries such as stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, or even aging. Modeling online control of human reach-to-grasp movements is a challenging problem but fundamental to several domains, including behavioral and computational neuroscience, neurorehabilitation, neural prostheses, and robotics. Currently, there are no publicly available datasets that include online adjustment of reach-to-grasp movements to object perturbations. This …

A Robust Technique For Optimal Fitting Of Roll-Over Shapes Of Human Locomotor Systems, Ganesh M. Bapat, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

The roll-over shape (ROS) effectively characterizes the lower limb's ability to roll forward during the single-limb support phase of human walking. ROS is modelled as an optimally fitted circular arc to the center of pressure (CoP) data transformed in the shank/leg-based local coordinate system. The commonly used method for optimal fitting of ROS is complex to implement and eliminates inherent individual variability in the ROS parameters during walking. We propose and validate a novel computerized method for optimal fitting of roll-over shapes of the lower limb during walking. Gait data of a healthy individual from Winter's book was used …

Early Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Promotion Of Infant Activity, Strength And Communication: A Qualitative Exploration, Kailey Snyder, Priyanka Chaudhary, Angela Pereira, Kimberly Masuda, Jessica Niski, Danae Dinkel

Journal Articles

Introduction

Fostering physical activity, muscle strengthening and communication skills in diverse environments are vital to ensuring healthy infant development; however, promotion of these skills may be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore healthcare workers, parents and childcare providers' perceptions of the pandemic's influence on how they engage with infants to promote physical activity, muscle strength and communication.

Methods

37 subjects (12 = parents; 12 = childcare providers, 13 = healthcare workers) participated in a semi-structured interview. Data were analyzed via an inductive content analysis.

Results

The majority of caregivers identified concerns related …

Claudicating Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease Have Meaningful Improvement In Walking Speed After Supervised Exercise Therapy, Hafizur Rahman, Iraklis Pipinos, Jason M. Johanning, George P. Casale, Mark A. Williams, Jonathan R. Thompson, Yohanis O'Neill-Casto, Sara A. Myers

Journal Articles

Objective

Supervised exercise therapy (SET) is a first-line treatment for patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD). The efficacy of SET is most commonly expressed by significant statistical improvement of parameters that do not clarify how each individual patient will benefit from SET. This study examined the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in walking speed in claudicating patients with PAD after SET.

Methods

A total of 63 patients with PAD-related claudication (Fontaine stage II PAD) participated in a 6-month SET program. Self-selected walking speed was measured before and after SET. Distribution and anchor-based approaches were used to estimate the MCID for …

Virtual Reality As A Context For Adaptation, Matthew Yarossi, Madhur Mangalam, Stephanie Naufel, Eugene Tunik

Journal Articles

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated interest in virtual reality (VR) for education, entertainment, telerehabilitation, and skills training. As the frequency and duration of VR engagement increases—the number of people in the United States using VR at least once per month is forecasted to exceed 95 million—it is critical to understand how VR engagement influences brain and behavior. Here, we evaluate neurophysiological effects of sensory conflicts induced by VR engagement and posit an intriguing hypothesis: the brain processes VR as a unique “context” leading to the formation and maintenance of independent sensorimotor representations. We discuss known VR-induced sensorimotor adaptations to illustrate …

Physical Activity, Physical Well-Being, And Psychological Well-Being: Associations With Life Satisfaction During The Covid-19 Pandemic Among Early Childhood Educators, Ken Randall, Timothy G. Ford, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Susan Sisson, Matthew Bice, Danae Dinkel, Jessica Tsotsoros

Journal Articles

Seeking personal well-being and life satisfaction during a global pandemic can be daunting, such is the case for early care and education teachers who were considered non-health care essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The potential changes in their physical activity, along with their overall physical and psychological well-being, may have ultimately influenced their life satisfaction. These changes included the potential for increased sedentary behaviors. Despite the high health risks associated with these factors during the pandemic, the role of physical activity in early care and education teachers’ well-being and life satisfaction remains largely unknown. The purpose of this study …

Effects Of Sensory Feedback And Collider Size On Reach-To-Grasp Coordination In Haptic-Free Virtual Reality, Mariusz P. Furmanek, Madhur Mangalam, Kyle Lockwood

Journal Articles

Technological advancements and increased access have prompted the adoption of head- mounted display based virtual reality (VR) for neuroscientific research, manual skill training, and neurological rehabilitation. Applications that focus on manual interaction within the virtual environment (VE), especially haptic-free VR, critically depend on virtual hand-object collision detection. Knowledge about how multisensory integration related to hand-object collisions affects perception-action dynamics and reach-to-grasp coordination is needed to enhance the immersiveness of interactive VR. Here, we explored whether and to what extent sensory substitution for haptic feedback of hand-object collision (visual, audio, or audiovisual) and collider size (size of spherical pointers representing the …

A Qualitative Comparison Of Parent And Childcare Provider Perceptions Of Communication And Family Engagement In Children's Healthy Eating And Physical Activity, Danae Dinkel, Maggie Rasmussen, John Rech, Kailey Snyder, Dipti A. Dev

Journal Articles

Background

Parents and childcare providers play a substantial role in the development of health behaviours among the children they care for. In order to ensure the optimal growth and development of children, communication and family engagement in childcare is critical. Previous studies examining parent or provider perceptions about healthy eating or physical activity have explored these concepts individually and/or have only included only parents or providers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare childcare provider and parent perceptions of communication regarding healthy eating and physical activity as well as use of best practice strategies on family engagement for …

How Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Sapajus Spp.) And Humans (Homo Sapiens) Handle A Jointed Tool., Dorothy M. Fragaszy, Joshua D. Lukemire, Jose Eduardo Reynoso-Cruz, Stephanie Villarreal Jordan, Spencer Sheheane, Amanda Heaton, Monica Quinones, Madhur Mangalam

Journal Articles

The embodied theory of tooling predicts that when using a grasped object as a tool, individuals accommodate their actions to manage the altered degrees of freedom in the body-plus-object system. We tested predictions from this theory by studying how 3 tufted capuchin monkeys (Sapajus spp.) and 6 humans (Homo sapiens) used a hoe to retrieve a token. The hoe’s handle was rigid, had 2 segments with 1 planar joint, or had 3 segments with 2 (orthogonal) planar joints. When jointed, rotating the handle could render it rigid. The monkeys used more actions to retrieve the token when the handle had …

Examining Supports And Barriers To Breastfeeding Through A Socio-Ecological Lens: A Qualitative Study, Kailey Snyder, Emily Hulse, Holly Dingman, Angie Cantrell, Corrine Hanson, Danae Dinkel

Journal Articles

Background

Early breastfeeding cessation is a societal concern given its importance to the health of mother and child. More effective interventions are needed to increase breastfeeding duration. Prior to developing such interventions more research is needed to examine breastfeeding supports and barriers from the perspective of breastfeeding stakeholders. One such framework that can be utilized is the Socio-Ecological Model which stems from Urie Broffenbrenner’s early theoretical frameworks (1973–1979). The purpose of this study was to examine supports and barriers to breastfeeding across environmental systems.

Methods

A total of 49 representatives participated in a telephone interview in Nebraska, USA in 2019. …

The Use Of Family Engagement Principles By Childcare Providers From Various Childcare Settings: A Qualitative Study, John Rech, Kailey Snyder, Maggie Rasmussen, Dipti A. Dev, Danae Dinkel

Journal Articles

Family engagement in childcare is important to ensure the optimal growth, development, and safety of children. Previous research has explored family engagement practices, but limited research is available on the application of theory to explain the uptake of family engagement principles. The purpose of this study was to explore the use and perceptions of the National Association of the Education for Young Children’s six principles of effective family engagement among childcare providers from various childcare settings following the Innovation-Decision Process of the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. A semi-structured interview with a card-sorting task was used to explore providers’ knowledge, adoption, …